Topinka Lends Chief Deputy $53,000

Irs Debt Could Have Cost Him State Job

SPRINGFIELD — When we last left Illinois Deputy Treasurer Marty Kovarik, he was desperately in search of a bank loan to pay off back taxes owed to the federal government or face the loss of his job.

But in Tuesday's installment of "As the Treasurer's Office Turns," Kovarik, unable to get a bank loan, was rescued by his boss. Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka bailed him out by providing him with a personal loan of $53,723.

"He is a valued employee and friend, and I want to help him with this problem," Topinka said in a statement. "I am grateful to be in a position where I can help end this episode."

So grateful, in fact, that Topinka secured a mortgage on her Riverside home to obtain the money to lend to Kovarik.

Kovarik said he expects to repay Topinka in full within two years at an interest rate of more than 9 percent.

As a result, the man who feared being fired by his boss is now being kept on through the generosity of his boss.

But will Topinka be less likely to fire an employee who owes her more than $50,000?

Stay tuned.

"She can't imagine a position in which, because of his job performance, she would have to contemplate firing or disciplining him," said Topinka spokesman Jim Skilbeck.

Kovarik, who is paid $85,000 a year, has been a longtime employee, friend and confidant of Topinka. Skilbeck described the relationship between the two as "close friends."

But in addition to the employer-employee relationship, Topinka's campaign fund also pays $950 a month in rent on a North Riverside office building that Kovarik owns and in which he lives.

The building was formerly Topinka's Senate district office and her 1994 campaign office and is still being used by her.

Skilbeck said Kovarik was unable to use the office building as collateral to obtain a bank loan because he was purchasing the property on a contract.

Kovarik also was receiving up to $2,500 a month from Topinka's campaign fund as a consultant until he began working for her in January.

And Kovarik acted as the agent who recently registered Topinka's new business, Jaybeetee Publishing Inc., with the state. The firm will operate the Riverside Landmark newspaper, which was purchased by Topinka, who was a reporter before she entered politics.

Kovarik's debt to the federal government stems from a business he operated with his wife in 1987 and 1988 and their subsequent divorce. The Internal Revenue Service threatened to garnishee his wages if the debt was not paid.

"Marty has gone out of his way to be helpful to me and has been an extraordinarily good employee in the treasurer's office--one whose skills and assistance I have come to value," Topinka said in her statement. "I merely want to help him get his life together on the issue of his taxes. Giving him a loan "is the right thing to do."